Singer/comedian/activist Jade Esteban Estrada received two standing ovations on early this month for his performance of the self-penned solo show “TransWorld! The Transgender History of the World” at the North East Regional Pride Conference (NERP) in Cape May, New Jersey.

Held at historic Congress Hall, the conference was hosted by the Jersey Pride organization and provided workshops, seminars and keynote speeches by notable LGBT leaders in the Northeast United States. The show “TransWorld: The Transgender History of the World” was originally commissioned by the University of California at Berkeley’s Gender Studies Department in November 2005.

In the show, Estrada portrays Joan of Arc, We Wah, Gertrude Stein, Sylvia Rivera, Christine Jorgensen, Brandon Teena and RuPaul. As an encore, Estrada performed a segment of his award-winning solo musical “ICONS: The Lesbian and Gay History of the World, Vol. 3? where he portrayed Mary Cheney, the lesbian daughter of U.S. Vice-President Dick Cheney.

“I’ve seen Jade Esteban on stage four times before, but when I saw him portraying Mary Cheney, I realized he wasn’t only celebrating gay icons. He was using irony to tell us that not all of our gay icons are people that we love or respect. It gave me chills. It was incredibly clever,” stated Thaddius Novack, Creative Director of Jersey City Lesbian and Gay Outreach.

“What he is doing is important for our LGBTQ youth to experience. I was certainly educated tonight,” stated Doreen DeJesus, Communications Director for Brooklyn Pride. Formally the choreographer to television personality Charo and a scratch vocalist for the Back Street Boys, Estrada came to international attention when Out Magazine christened him, “the first gay Latin star” in 2000.

Estrada released his debut CD “Angel” (Vicarious) in 2001 and in 2002 took part in the “Being Out Rocks” (Centaur) CD compilation in honor of National Coming Out Day for the Human Rights Campaign. In October 2006, Kentucky Governor Ernie Fletcher paid tribute to Estrada by commissioning him the title of “Kentucky Colonel,” the highest honor awarded by the  Commonwealth of Kentucky that acknowledges outstanding ambassadors of goodwill and fellowship around the world.

The Texas native joined other honorary colonels which include Winston Churchill, Ronald Reagan, Bob Hope, Joan Crawford, Johnny Depp, Muhammad Ali and Pope John Paul II. Estrada’s television credits include appearances on the Emmy-nominated “In the Life TV” on PBS, “Friday Night Lights” on NBC and “The Graham Norton Effect” on Comedy Central.

His popular Latin dance music can be heard on the Golden Globe and Emmy award-winning police drama, “The Shield” on the FX Network. “Most performers would be happy to have a fraction of Jade Esteban Estrada’s career,” states Marty Rosen of the Louisville Courier-Journal. Hector Saldana of the San Antonio Express-News calls him “a show biz messiah.” Roy Proctor of the Richmond Times-Dispatch calls him “a master entertainer.”

Estrada has toured the U.S. with his eight solo theatre shows which include “It’s Too Late…It’s Already In Me,” “Tortilla Heaven,” ICONS: The Lesbian and Gay History of the World, Vol. 1, ICONS: The Lesbian and Gay History of the World, Vol. 2 (Winner of the 2004 Audience Favorite Award at the Columbus National Gay and Lesbian Theatre Festival), ICONS: The Lesbian and Gay History of the World, Vol. 3 (Winner of the 2006 Best Solo Performance and Best Original Music Awards at the CNGLTF), “Pico de Gallo” and “Gay Christian, Gay Muslim, Gay Jew.”

Estrada will speak at the international “Behind the Rainbow” Queer Studies Easter Symposium in Mexico City on April 11, 2007 and will also be the headlining act for the Transgender 2007, the annual conference of the International Foundation for Gender Education in Philadelphia on April 13, 2007.


 

 
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